Columbus Banks performance snapshot

J.D. Power released its 13th annual U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study,SM which measures customer satisfaction with retail banks, based on responses from more than 88,000 retail banking customers of 200 of the largest banks in the United States. How did the largest Columbus area banks perform?

While the national study breaks out results across 11 broad regions of the U.S., we have parsed the data further to examine the detailed performance of the largest banks by market share on a city-by-city basis. Some of the results may surprise you. For example, while City National Bank (WV) was the top performer in the North Central region, Columbus’s largest bank by market share – Huntington – was the 2nd ranked performer in the region.

Following is a breakdown of the North Central region results, with the scores of the Columbus area’s 5 largest banks highlighted to show how the city’s biggest banks compare with the rest of the region.

What are some of the primary factors driving these results?

Paul McAdam, Senior Director of the Banking Practice at J.D. Power explained: “Robust digital offerings from some of the nation’s largest banks have helped them grow their customer bases, but the study reveals that customers who use exclusively online or mobile banking channels are the least satisfied with their banks’ service quality. Right now, retail banks need to address the growing ‘digital divide’ that is emerging within their customer bases. Successfully navigating that transition will require a combination of providing better, more personalized advice that is consistent across both digital and branch interactions, and ensuring that customer needs are being met regardless of what channel they are using.”

According to Bob Neuhaus, Senior Director of Financial Services at J.D. Power, the ability to offer strong digital and branch experiences is key: “The shift to digital has clearly presented challenges for some banks, but those who are managing to get the customer satisfaction formula right, with the right combination of high tech, high touch customer interaction, are already setting the pace for others to follow.”